Paresh Rawal is a first time MP from the Ahmedabad East Constituency. An acclaimed actor who has essayed many iconic roles in both mainstream and parallel Hindi cinema, the 63-year old Rawal is known to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has said in more than one interview that it was the inspiration from the PM that led him to join politics.
In 2014, he was reportedly considered for two Gujarat seats — Ahmedabad East and Vadodara — where Modi himself was also being named as a possible contender. Finally, Modi stood for Vadodara, while Rawal got Ahmedabad east.
In the 2014 elections, Paresh Rawal (BJP) defeated H.S.Patel (INC) by a margin of 326633 votes. The constituency with 16,01,832 electors voters had a 61.52 % voter turnout in the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections of which Rawal received 64.29 percent.
However, Rawal has announced that he has opted out and will not be contesting for a second term. Amraiwadi MLA H S Patel will be the BJP candidate for the constituency on the April 23rd elections.
Personal Information
Paresh Rawal
- Age– 63
- Party – Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
- Term – 2014- present
- Self Profession– Actor, Drama Artis
- Educational Qualification– Bachelors in Commerce, Mumbai University
- Email– rawalpareshbjp@gmail.com
- Contact No- 09013869118
- Address– Shubhadra, 4th Floor, 6th Road, JVPD Scheme, Vile Parle (West), Mumbai- 400049
- Twitter– @SirPareshRawal
Assets and Liabilities(2014)
| Movable assets | 56,05,61,576 |
| Immovable assets | 23,46,50,000 |
| Total | 79,52,11,576 |
| Liabilities | 8,14,72,461 |
Source: myneta.info (All figures in INR)
Criminal cases
None
Positions Held
- Member- Standing Committee on Information Technology
- Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology
Source: Lok Sabha
MP Performance
Paresh Rawal fared quite poorly in attendance and participation in debates, with his numbers falling well below the national and state average.
| MP | Attendance | No of Debates | No of questions asked | Private Member’s Bill |
| Paresh Rawal | 66% | 8 | 185 | 0 |
| National average | 80% | 67.1 | 293 | 2.3 |
| State (Gujarat) average | 84% | 41.1 | 285 | 2.6 |
Source: PRS Legislative Research
Some of the questions that he asked were on the demand for fertilizers in Gujarat, Women in Defence, salient features of the Public Distribution System, food charges at NIFT, non performing assets of banks, National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) in Gujarat, Vocational Courses at NIOS, ASHA project, and Policy for new and renewable assets.
Some of the debates that he participated in related to:
- Providing LPG dealership agencies to youth
- Need to check female foeticide in the country
- Need to appoint adequate nodal officers to oversee development works under Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana in Gujarat
- Need to provide stoppage for all trains between Mumbai and Ahmedabad at Maninagar station (in Ahmedabad)
For a complete list of questions asked and debates participated in by the MP, click here.
Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) Fund
Out of 25 crores allocated to Ahmedabad East, Rawal has been able to put 2 crores 43 lakhs into use.
| Recommended Amount | 6,11,87,800 |
| Sanctioned Amount | 3,96,82,800 |
| Utilized Amount | 2,43,87,800 |
Rawal had recommended 337 works, mostly on the enhancement of Anganwadis (providing sports and study assets) in his constituency, for which the amount was sanctioned.
He had also made recommendations for the following works in his constituency, for which the amount wasn’t sanctioned:
- Provision of sport assets in government schools.
- Construction of Footpaths/pedestrian ways.
- Construction of roads, approach roads, link roads,pathways
- Piped Drinking water supply
- Buildings for hospitals, family welfare centers, public health care centers,ANM centers
- Drains and gutters for public drainage.
Source: Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, GoI
In the news
Paresh Rawal has been in the news for some of his controversial statements. He received backlash for a statement that he had made on Twitter in 2017. He stated that noted writer-activist Arundhati Roy should be tied to army vehicles instead of stone pelters in Kashmir.His remarks sparked an outrage on social media with many condemning it , while others agreed with him. Rawal later deleted the tweet and stated that he was forced to do so by Twitter, but that he stands by what he has said.
Rawal’s “Raja- Vaja- Vandra” remarks didn’t go down too well with the Rajput community, who felt that he was comparing the Rajputs to monkeys. He apologised for his remark stating that his remarks were not directed at the community but at the Nizam of Hyderabad.
He sparked controversy again when he tweeted that National Register of Citizen of India (NRC) should be mandated for all states. Several Twitter users responded to him, pointing out that the NRC was borne out of the Assam Accord and therefore not relevant to other states.
It was reported that several of the local leaders in the constituency were unhappy with Rawal as he hadn’t spent enough time in the constituency during his tenure, and felt that he should be replaced for the 2019 elections.